To think cyclists shouldn't think themselves above the law ?

AmIWhatAndWhy · 2008-11-26T17:38:52+00:00

DP has just called me, he left work and was crossing when a cyclist sailed through the lights and missed hitting him by inches. The same has happened to me countless times, sometimes when with the DC. Why do they think it's okay to sail over pedestrian crossings?

more · 26/11/2008 17:44

Am I unreasonable in thinking that drivers think themselves above the law?
Drivers constantly turn right in front of me whilst I am in the cycling lane.
They rarely indicate to let me know which way they are going.
They park right across the crossing point so when I sensibly get off my bike at the roundabout I can't cross when the light changes to green for me because there are cars parked all over it.

Some cyclists are inconsiderate. Some drivers are inconsiderate. Some pedestrians are inconsiderate.

pania · 26/11/2008 17:46

I cycle but am always v. pissed off at cyclists who do things like this. Cyclists who don't use lights really annoy me as they are practically invisible in low light. It's stupid and dangerous and unfair to other road users.

southeastastra · 26/11/2008 17:46

today for the first time in years (no exageration) i actually saw a cyclist using hand signals to indicate left.

Original poster

AmIWhatAndWhy · 26/11/2008 17:46

I am not, when crossing with two toddlers on a green man, nor is my DP who also doesn't drive.

OP posts:

bookthief · 26/11/2008 17:46

I absolutely don't have a problem with cyclist's running a red light. As long as they get off their bikes, walk across the crossing with the other pedestrians and then get back on again.

Simple surely?

bookthief · 26/11/2008 17:47

Aaaaaaargh where did that apostrophe come from

Ivykaty44 · 26/11/2008 17:49

YANBU - the same happened to me the other day, the cyclist was oblivious to the fact i had nearly killed him . I am a cyclist and it gives cyclists a bad name (wondering if these same cyclists are also bad car drivers?)

never underestimate the stupidity of some people

Original poster

AmIWhatAndWhy · 26/11/2008 17:50

Okay, so the crossing outside out house, on a busy London A road. I cross this with two toddlers, it's easy to see cyclist when crossing but not if you there's a coach or lorry stopped on the opposite side of the road.

Why is it fine for someone to cycle through at vast speed?

OP posts:

more · 26/11/2008 17:53

You are saying though that all cyclists are thinking themselves above the law and in that respect YABU.
I always signal, I always use the cycle lane when there is one, I always stop when there is a red light no matter how stupid it makes me look, I always follow the traffic law.
That one cyclist is an arse yes, but not all cyclists.

RustyBear · 26/11/2008 18:11

Where did the OP say 'all cyclists'

more · 26/11/2008 18:13

The heading says "To think cyclists...." the "s" at the end means more than one cyclist!!??

EyeballsintheSky · 26/11/2008 18:15

I must be the only driver I know who is happy for cyclists to run red lights. Because when they bank up in front of you they are a bloody menace. I don't see how it's not ok for them to ride in the middle of a road but it's ok to sit at the lights in the middle and block everything. They should be lined up in single file at the lights like the rest of us.

cali · 26/11/2008 18:15

I agree with OP.

Having recently narrowly missed a cyclist, who cycled across a pedestrian crossing when the red man was showing.
Lights had just turned to green for me and the driver next to me, how we both managed to avoid the idiot, I have no idea.

RustyBear · 26/11/2008 18:18

Yes, more than one cyclist, because this has hapened to the OP more than once, and unless there is a mad cyclist stalking her family just waiting to mow them down, it is probably more than one.
But more than one doesn't imply all.

TrillianAstra · 26/11/2008 18:24

As a cyclist (well, I use my bike to go places, I'm not a mad lycra-wearing loony) I hate it when other cyclists do stupid things too. If they stopped at red lights and indicated occasionally then maybe cars would behave more considerately to bikes, pay attention to bike lanes, etc.

Obviosuly I hate it most when they inconvenience me, like when I carefully overtake a slow weaving-from-side-to-side person only for them to sail past me at the next set of traffic lights and get in my way again.

fridayschild · 26/11/2008 18:33

Eyeballsinthesky - cyclists are advised to park in front in the middle of the lane at the red light because there are some drivers who don't indicate left. Lots of cyclist fatalities are caused by drivers turning left in front of them. The highway code is clear that cyclists should ride in the position on the road where they feel safest.

I am a hardened lycra-wearing cyclist, and inconsiderate cyclists always drive me mad!

MsSparkle · 26/11/2008 18:37

I find the whole "but car drivers do this and do that on the road..." a very poor argument for a cyclist to continue breaking the law on the road. Yes, car drivers can be dangerous on the road and break the law, but that isn't an excuse for a cyclist to use it as a reason to break the law. Plus, drivers are fined/get points etc for doing stupid things on the road, you rarely ever hear of a cyclist being punished.

I hate the fact that alot of cyclists always think they have right of way, no matter what it is. Or when they cycle along side by side having a conversation and then have the cheek to swear at you if you beep your horn so you can get by!

lljkk · 26/11/2008 18:40

What More said. (extremely well, btw!!)

StewieGriffinsMom · 26/11/2008 18:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Pan · 26/11/2008 18:46

oh do give it a rest.

Cyclist don't threaten drivers with serious injuries and on ocassion fatalities whe nthey behave like tossers. yes it CAN be a bit irksome when some cyclist get an advantage by sailing through lights etc when they shouldn't. But really, try to see things in perspective?

I cycle to work whenever I can, about 2-3 times per week. Each journey involves me taking some kind of evasive action to accommodate my continued existence as some driver has "failed to see you there mate, sorry", or deliberately cuts me up between the vehicle and kerb, or just hoots indiscriminately IF they think I am holding them up in their rush to get to the next queue of traffic 500 yds away.

Not all drivers are tossers, obv. But whinging drivers??

And cyclist usually 'get punished' by way of serious injury, MsSparkle.

Pan · 26/11/2008 18:47

Stwie - they "tend" to get killed by motorists, not themselves.

Hassled · 26/11/2008 18:48

Ms Sparkle has it right - yes, there are good and bad cyclists and good and bad drivers, but the difference is that bad drivers get punished; worst case scenario is the inability to drive their cars.

That doesn't happen to cyclists, and possibly because of that there is this Aura of Invincibility that some of them seem to have. I am a cyclist, and have witnessed some truly gobsmacking behaviour from other cyclists - and there is never an air of "oops, might get caught out here".

Pan · 26/11/2008 18:50

MsSparkle has it wrong - but it depends on your point of view.

smartiejake · 26/11/2008 18:52

It's cyclists on the pavement who make me fume.

Not long ago I was coming out of a drive (for a car park behind a shop)in our high street. Looked left and right to make sure there were no pedestrians and pulled out over the pavement to get to the road.

A young man on a bike of about 20 hit me at high speed was catapulted over my wind screen and his bike ended up slewing under the front of my car ripping off the number plate in the process.

We called an ambulance as his nose was bleeding and the police to report the accident. Once the ambulance people had patched him up the police man really tore him off a strip as he was obviously going much too fast and shouldn't be on the pavement especially in a busy high street.

I was really shaken up but just grateful he wasn't hurt (apart from a bump on the nose which was quite amazing as he hadn't been waering a helmet) but rather annoyed as I had damage to my car which I had to pay to get repaired.

I have also nearly been run over by cyclists on a crossing with the green man flashing.

But there again I have also nearly been run over by drivers on a crossing too...